Lothar Wenzl
Lothar Wenzl** (born 1967) is an Austrian management consultant, author, and keynote speaker specialising in organisational transformation, leadership development, and systemic change. He is Managing Director and Partner of Trainconsulting, a Vienna-based consulting firm. Since 2003 he has advised executive teams and organisations across Austria and internationally on transformation processes, trust-based leadership, and organisational design.
Career
Wenzl studied International Business Administration at the Vienna University of Economics and Business and at the Universidad de las Américas Puebla in Mexico. He holds an Executive MBA from the Vienna University of Economics and Business.
Before entering consulting, he held leadership positions in the global pharmaceutical and retail industries. He is the main owner of Trainconsulting and has served as its Managing Director since 2003.
His client work spans industries including aviation, finance, pharma, tourism, timber, and technology. Organisations he has worked with include Austrian Airlines, Raiffeisen, Biogen, Daikin, Norske Skog, Verkehrsbüro Group, Nuki, the Austrian Research Promotion Agency (FFG), and HS Timber Group.[1]
In a survey of approximately 250 senior executives in Austrian companies, published by Industrie Magazin, Trainconsulting was ranked among the top three change consulting firms in Austria, with a score of 1.45.[2]
Ideas and publications
Wenzl's work centres on the argument that trust functions as economic infrastructure within organisations — accelerating decision-making, reducing internal transaction costs, and enabling adaptive capacity. He has described this as "System Trust" and summarises the principle as: "Transformation travels at the speed of System Trust."
A recurring theme in his writing is the critique of purely metrics-based management. In a 2011 interview with the WirtschaftsBlatt, he argued that 98% of companies observe poor leadership, and that the solution lies in changing organisational structures rather than individuals alone.[3] In columns for Der Standard (Karrierenstandard supplement) in 2014 and 2015, he challenged the pseudo-objectivity of numerical performance measurement[4] and argued that top-down change without dialogue systematically fails.[5]
In 2026 he published the essay The Control Collapse on the Trainconsulting website, arguing that command-and-control leadership is structurally unsuited to complex environments, and that the next major leadership upgrade is socio-emotional rather than technological.[6]
He is the author of Die Spielregeln der Führung (The Rules of the Management Game), published in 2015.
Public activities
Wenzl is a keynote speaker at universities and leadership conferences. He teaches at the Vienna University of Economics and Business. In September 2025, he served as opening keynote speaker at the Sustainability Week of the Vienna Chamber of Commerce (Wirtschaftskammer Wien), speaking on the role of innovation in ecological transformation.[7]
He co-hosts the podcast Die Schöne und das Biest — Warum schöne Organisationen die Welt verändern (Beauty and the Beast — Why Beautiful Organisations Change the World) together with journalist and author Mari Lang. The podcast, produced by Trainconsulting, explores leadership, sustainability, and the UN Sustainable Development Goals through conversations with business leaders and thinkers. Guests have included Nipun Mehta (founder of ServiceSpace and advocate of gift culture), futurist Tristan Horx, Vienna University of Economics and Business professor Wendy Chapple, and executives from Verkehrsbüro Group, HS Timber Group, Max Felchlin AG, and Die Tafel Österreich.[8]
His work has been covered in Die Presse,[9] WirtschaftsBlatt, Der Standard (Karrierenstandard), BUSINESSART,[10] Wiener Wirtschaft, report.at,[11] and FORMAT magazine.
References
- ↑ "Lothar Wenzl – Trainconsulting". Retrieved 2026-05-31.
- ↑ "Die besten Unternehmensberater – Consulting in Österreich". Industrie Magazin. Retrieved 2026-05-31.
- ↑ "„Es traut sich keiner mehr, sich vorne hinzustellen"". WirtschaftsBlatt. 25 November 2011. p. 31.
- ↑ "Messen ist pseudoobjektiv". DerStandard. 21 December 2014.CS1 maint: Date and year (link)
- ↑ "Wider den verordneten Wandel". Karrierenstandard. 18 January 2015.
- ↑ "The Control Collapse". Trainconsulting. March 2026. Retrieved 2026-05-31.
- ↑ "Innovation ist nötiger denn je". Wiener Wirtschaft. 31 July 2025. p. 20.
- ↑ "Die Schöne und das Biest". Spotify / Trainconsulting. Retrieved 2026-05-31.
- ↑ "Es geht um schöne Unternehmen". Die Presse. Retrieved 2026-05-31.
- ↑ "Unternehmensverantwortung auf dem Prüfstand". BUSINESSART. Retrieved 2026-05-31.
- ↑ "Vertrauenskultur ohne Kontrolle". report.at. Retrieved 2026-05-31.
External links
Category:1967 births
Category:Living people
Category:Vienna University of Economics and Business alumni
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